If Hands Could Talk

The idea behind this piece is pain and beauty. I wanted anyone to be able to relate to this painting, so I decided to leave it rather abstract. Personally, I was in a great deal of pain from my recently diagnosed, severe ulcerative colitis when I created this piece. I had to stay home from school that day because of the pain; I wanted to clear my mind as much as possible and paint what I was feeling. I painted my hands and arms and then placed them on the canvas in a way that made it appear that the hands were trying to grab or reach something. I want the viewer to see how mad and desperate I am that I cannot reach what I am grasping for. I had a picture taken of my hands in this position; I wanted to juxtapose the harsh, dark, mainly red lines on the canvas with soft, cool tones and my relatively smooth skin. The idea behind the photograph is that beauty can come out of even the harshest of pains.